There has been great anticipation on my part for new school year at The Gan.

To my joy, my hopes and expectations for this years class are already being met.

The children immediately began building friendships and exploring the classroom.

We are already seeing the 4 C's occurring amongst the children.

Collaboration

working together to create a tire chair

becoming partners in an investigation to see if a pipe can stand and balance on it's own

working together to load the tires on the train

Communication

discussing and sharing stories about storms

laughing together

Creative thinking

creating a tire obstacle

painting

It is not simply a tire, it can be a hula hoop!

Critical thinking

playing with magnets and rice

what happens when you smash a volcano?

what happens when you smash play dough on a table and it gets so thin it sticks to the table?

Is it a bridge?

Is it a trampoline?

Some wonderful acts of kindness and leadership occurred faster than the camera could document.

These moments of kindness:

• a returning child walking over at clean up time to help 2 new children return their toys - unasked by a teacher
• an older child inviting a new younger child to sit by him at lunch
• a returning child holding the hand of a younger child, giving a tour of the classroom
• friends helping each other open lunch containers and go-gurts.

With these demonstrations of leadership and kindness, collaboration and critical creative thinking, I am confident we have a wonderful year ahead of us.

We celebrated our first Shabbat party of the new school year. It was filled with music and joy.